Sidon, of Ascalon, of Gaza, and of Berytus. That
thread of water with no outlet, is the river Jordan; and those naked
rocks were once the theatre of events that have resounded throughout
the world. Behold that desert of Horeb, and that Mount Sinai; where,
by means beyond vulgar reach, a genius, profound and bold, established
institutions which have weighed on the whole human race. On that dry
shore which borders it, you perceive no longer any trace of splendor;
yet there was an emporium of riches. There were those famous Ports of
Idumea, whence the fleets of Phoenicia and Judea, coasting the Arabian
peninsula, went into the Persian gulf, to seek there the pearls of
Hevila, the gold of Saba and of Ophir. Yes, there on that coast of Oman
and of Barhain was the seat of that commerce of luxuries, which, by its
movements and revolutions, fixed the destinies of ancient nations.***
Thither came the spices and precious stones of Ceylon, the shawls of
Cassimere, the diamonds of Golconda, the amber of Maldivia, the musk of
Thibet, the aloes of Cochin, the apes and peacocks of the continent of
India, the incense of Hadramaut, the myrrh, the silver, the gold dust
and ivory of Africa; thence passing, sometimes by the Red Sea on the
vessels of Egypt and Syria, these luxuries nourished successively the
wealth of Thebes, of Sidon, of Memphis and of Jerusalem; sometimes,
ascending the Tygris and Euphrates, they awakened the activity of the
Assyrians, Medes, Chaldeans, and Persians; and that wealth, according
to the use or abuse of it, raised or reversed by turns their domination.
Hence sprung the magnificence of Persepolis, whose columns you
still perceive; of Ecbatana, whose sevenfold wall is destroyed; of
Babylon,**** now leveled with the earth; of Nineveh, of which scarce
the name remains; of Thapsacus, of Anatho, of Gerra, and of desolated
Palmyra. O names for ever glorious! fields of renown! countries of
never-dying memory! what sublime lessons doth your aspect offer! what
profound truths are written on the surface of your soil! remembrances of
times past, return into my mind! places, witnesses of the life of man in
so many different ages, retrace for me the revolutions of his fortune!
say, what were their springs and secret causes! say, from what sources
he derived success and disgrace! unveil to himself the causes of his
evils! correct him by the spectacle of his errors! teach him the wisdom
which belongeth to him, and let the exp